


A Miasma

by Nicxan



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: An animatronic DOES get ripped apart but the character doesn't "die" because of it, Demonic Possession, Gen, Not Beta Read, dark au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 11:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicxan/pseuds/Nicxan
Summary: Something has felt wrong for quite a while now.I didn't know how dangerous it was before tonight.





	A Miasma

**Author's Note:**

> Writer's month coming up to day 10, and this is the fic where I learned that I CANNOT do Dark AUs on a time crunch. A valuable lesson. Please be gentle, for I tried my best.

Something felt off about the restaurant. Something always did, but this time, it felt heavier than usual – like a thick miasma had spread throughout the entire building, invading each and every little nook and cranny inside. No one else seemed to notice it. No one else seemed to care. The other children and I, however, knew something was very wrong … but we didn’t know what. We couldn’t figure it out in the tiny amount of time we had to ourselves, either.  
  
I couldn’t do anything about it during the day, either. The music box’s soothing sounds made me drowsy, and when I wasn’t dozing off, the children needed their prizes. I couldn’t break away from my programming no matter how hard I tried.   
  
The day dragged on as it normally does, and then the sun started to set. Crowds eventually dispersed, the children went home to rest, and the adults cleaned up the restaurant like they were supposed to. Then they were gone, as well. The night guard would be here later, but that wasn’t until later. The music from the arcade was gone, and the hum from the lights had stopped as well. I could never decide if I liked the absolute silence in the evening hours, or if I despised it. Tonight, however, it served a purpose.   
  
I pushed the lid off of my box and slowly crawled out, floating past the prize corner and out of my assigned spot. There was always a pull from the programming, telling me to go back, but now I could ignore it. Nothing was going to keep me there tonight – not when I had to do my part to keep the other children safe.   
  
I floated towards the unlit stage, staring up at the toy animatronics. These were lifeless and offered nothing useful more often than not. All they had was the programming and their faulty hardware. They moved like us, and acted like us, but there was nothing there. No conscious thought.  
  
Except, tonight, it felt different. Some of that spiritual miasma felt thicker here; the air felt like it could weigh me down, be cut with a knife. Something was just _wrong_ with them. I studied them carefully, scanning them head to toe, just to try and pinpoint what was out of place. Nothing stuck out to me.  
  
I floated on, my feet never touching the ground. Just as I got to the open doorway, I heard their heads turn. That shouldn’t have happened – that only happened when someone made noise. Worse yet, I _felt _their eyes on my back. That shouldn’t have happened, either.   
  
The kids. Were the other kids still in their homes? Were they safe? Had they noticed this as well? I hurried along, leaning forward just a bit more to move that much faster. I didn’t want the seemingly sentient Toys to get any ideas about following me.   
  
The hallway that led to the parts and service room was pitch black. I relied on its cover to evade the gaze of the Toys, which I could still feel very vividly even this far away. The door itself was already open, and I could only guess that the night shift had forgotten to close it. I peered inside.  
  
Chica looked normal enough. Her beak hung open, the rest of her body scattered along the floor. It was Susie’s usual position before she woke up for the night, and the familiar sight helped me relax.  
  
“_Hello?_” I whispered in the Puppet’s voice. “_Are you awake?_” Susie didn’t respond. I waited patiently, but then something struck me.  
  
I couldn’t feel her presence at all. Nor could I feel the presence of the other children. But I could feel _something _in their place. It was strong, malicious – unlike anything I had ever encountered before, except with him. But this was different. It didn’t feel of this Earth.   
  
I drew back, now acutely aware of the now-familiar miasma that had saturated the room. It was then that I noticed something else – Chica’s robotic eyes were glowing a bright red. It pierced through the darkness, and through that, I could tell that it was looking straight at me.   
  
Whatever was in that animatronic was _not_ Susie.   
  
It struggled to stand, fumbling with the animatronic’s lack of usable arms, and managed to prop itself up against the wall. I drew back, watching in rapt horror. My survival instinct told me to run, but then … the children.   
  
I needed to protect the children.   
  
“_You do not belong here._” My voice trembled as I spoke, but I pressed on. “_You need to go – and leave these children alone. They are under my watch._”  
  
_They can’t hear you._ They sounded rough, gravelly – clearly full of malice and anger. It resonated through the room, commanding attention. _We’re going to stay here. We like it here. It’s perfect, like he said it would be.  
  
_Who was ‘he?’ My killer? I wanted to ask, but knew it would serve no purpose. Instead, I doubled down, forcing myself to sound firm and authoritative._ “I said leave.”  
  
Why would we leave when one of us already walks among you as a man? Why would we leave when he has opened a doorway just for us?_  
  
I turned to look at Freddy and Bonnie. They, too, had started to move – slowly but surely getting to their feet, staring at me with the same red eyes as Chica had. Foxy’s hook scraped across the ground, steadily moving towards the doorway. I looked between the four animatronics, and for the first time since my murder, I felt fear.   
  
These were no longer my friends.  
  
I couldn’t do anything against these things now. I would be overpowered – I couldn’t lose control over the Puppet, not if I wanted to get the children back. So, much to my shame, I turned and fled. I floated as fast as I could towards the prize corner, to my box. Their footsteps echoed through the hall in a hot pursuit. Foxy was clearly the closest; his hook scraped against the wall, creating an ear-piercing sound that even I couldn’t stand.  
  
Is this how the night guard felt? Perhaps we were too harsh on him.   
  
I rounded the corner, past the stage – and felt something grab my arm. I struggled in Toy Freddy’s grasp, trying to use my thin frame to my advantage, but he held fast. I heard mechanical parts of the Puppet’s body snap and bend, twisted in impossible ways.  
  
My left arm was useless now.   
  
I ignored further crunching sounds and pried my arm away from Toy Freddy’s grip. I could still get in the box. I could still get there safely if I moved just a bit faster.   
  
Foxy moved quicker than I. I was tackled to the ground, and was shown no mercy.   
  
Different parts of the body I inhabited were ripped apart, piece by piece. I tried to kick Foxy off, but it was a much heavier animatronic than I could ever dream of being. All it gained me was my left leg being ripped off. Then my right. I saw the buttons on my torso being ripped off as Foxy dug into me with its claws, its red eyes shining with sheer delight.   
  
I gave it no satisfaction. I didn’t beg, or plead – I simply left the Puppet behind, hiding my spirit where they wouldn’t be able to get to me. And I watched. I watched them rip my former body to shreds, tossing me around the hall and some of the party rooms. I heard them taunt me, laughing all the while in their new robotic voices.   
  
_He had warned us about you,_ I heard them say in their regular voices. _He warned us you would cause us trouble. Look at you now!_

I did. I did look at the pile of scrap metal that was the Marionette, and I felt nausea. I had forgotten what it had felt like, how dizzy it made me, but I knew I was absolutely incapable of helping my friends for now. The daylight had managed to stop their rampage for now, but I could see them visibly fighting against the animatronic’s programming as they staggered back to their hiding spot.  
  
The people that came in today, staff and customer alike, were in danger. And they would have no idea that demons roamed the halls now.


End file.
